Myrtle Beach officials restrict public feedings in city parks

Chapin Park, Myrtle Beach

By: Thema Ponton | SCNow
Published: June 10, 2009

There are some changes for Myrtle Beach city parks.

At Tuesday’s council meeting members voted to pass an ordinance restricting public feeding in city parks.

Now, anyone who wants to have a public feeding is required to get a permit, which is free.

Councilman Mike Chestnut, the only one who voted against the ordinance said, “There's other issues that are going on in the park and we need to police the parks and we've already got an ordinance in place that the park close down at dusk and open back up at dawn.” Chestnut also said, “If we're going to have public parks, public parks should be for everybody, not just a select few, public park, and the key word is public, OK, not private."

Sharon Boyce, head of the Maple Street Neighborhood Watch Group said she’s pleased the ordinance passed because now it means the parks can be used for their original purpose, recreation. “You talk to anybody and they say, come to the park, you'll get fed, and that's not what the city of Myrtle Beach should be known for, it should be family oriented, it should be somewhere fun to take your family where you can let your relatives or your family members go to the park and be a kid."

City leaders said one group had been regularly feeding homeless people in Withers Swash Park and another group had been feeding people in Chapin Park.

Council members said they're not against people being fed, but said city parks are not the place to do it.